CHAP, in.] CUTANEOUS SECRETION. 391 



volatilisation from the surface of the bath. In the case of the 

 skin of the frog an absorption of water and of various soluble 

 substances would certainly appear to take place. The lymphatics 

 in the skin of a newborn infant have been found crowded with the 

 particles of the peculiar fatty secretion which covers the skin at 

 birth ; and solid particles rubbed into even the sound skin may, 

 especially when applied in a fatty vehicle, as ex. gr. in the well- 

 known mercury-ointment, find their way into the underlying 

 lymphatics. So that possibly absorption to a certain extent may 

 ordinarily take place in this way. By abraded surfaces, where the 

 dermis is laid bare and covered only by the lowest layers of 

 epidermis, absorption takes place very readily. 



